Going to Seed - A counterculture memoir by Simon Fairlie

Going to Seed is the unforgettable firsthand account of how the hippie movement flowered in the late 1960s, appeared spent by the Thatcher-consumed 1980s, yet became the seedbed for progressive reform we now take for granted - and continues to inspire generations of rebels and visionaries. At a young age, Simon Fairlie rejected the rat race and embarked on a new trip to find his own path. He dropped out of Cambridge University to hitchhike to Istanbul and bicycle through India.

Simon established a commune in France, was arrested multiple times for squatting and civil disobedience, and became a leading figure in protests against the British government's road building programmes of the 1980s and - later - in legislative battles to help people secure access to land for low impact, sustainable living. Over the course of fifty years, we witness a man's drive for self-sufficiency, freedom, authenticity and a deep connection to the land. Simon Fairlie grew up in a middle-class household in leafy middle England.